the matthew show: News

March's Acoustic Surprise - March 1, 2009

Okay, so a long time ago, the Crash Test Dummies had a song that was utterly fucking annoying and got on everyone's nerves until they never wanted to hear anything by the Crash Test Dummies again.

This was always a shame to me, because I had actually discovered CTD shortly before that song came out. Their 1991 album The Ghosts That Haunt Me contains several gems, including my new acoustic surprise, Superman's Song:

Once again, this thing is only up for a month, so download ye rosebuds while ye may...

return of the Acoustic Surprise - January 25, 2009

Longtime matthew show devotees may recall that a few years ago, I instituted something called the Acoustic Surprise. The idea was that every month, I would release a simple acoustic track for your downloading convenience.

This program, though successful, was short-lived, because for some reason I had a hard time releasing an "acoustic" track that didn't end up with drums, electric guitar, and eight-part harmony on it. Thus, it became less monthly, and more bi-yearly, and eventually ceased altogether as I concentrated my efforts on the new album.

However, since I've been playing shows all by my lonesome for a couple of years online, I have been convinced by many that you all would actually enjoy hearing just me and my acoustic guitar. The mob has spoken:

http://thematthewshow.com/music.html
At the top of the page above, you will find the January edition of the monthly Acoustic Surprise. This time around, it's Hand of the Almighty, a song by the little-known John R. Butler, which pulls no punches on Old Testament smiting guidelines. It's a favorite at Second Life shows, and now it's out to terrorize the interwebs at large.

Now, the deal with the Acoustic Surprise is that it's only available for one month. Download it now or forever lose it to the shifting winds of the information super-HOV-lane. This time next month, I'll have a new Acoustic Surprise up, and yes, it will actually be acoustic. I promise, no horns or string sections. Probably.

Enjoy.

UPDATE 3-1-09: See the latest news announcement for which song is currently up as the Acoustic Surprise.

matthew on the radio - January 13, 2009

Got a couple of online radio appearances to mention. One is an interview I did recently with Radio Mike on the Fevered Brain Radio Network:

Live Shows for non-Second Lifers - January 11, 2009

Okay, so I’ve heard quite a bit from folks who for a variety of very good reasons can’t get into Second Life. This presents problems, because SL is in fact where I do the majority of my performing these days.

However…I have found a solution.

It’s about the dumbest “eureka” moment in history, because the answer has been staring me in the face right here on my desktop for years: iTunes.

When I do a live show in SL, all I’m doing is broadcasting live on an audio stream, which is then piped into Second Life. Well, dig this crazy shit. Go to the Advanced tab in iTunes, and you’ll see an option that says “Open Audio Stream.” Upon selecting that option, a box pops up asking for a URL.

So here’s how we’re gonna do this. Before a show, I’ll send out an email containing the URL for the show. That way you, the listener, can plug it in and have a little concert in your house. I’ll keep my Twitter open, so if you want to shoot me messages or whatnot during the show, you can participate nearly as much as the people who are present in SL.

This means that if you're not on my mailing list, you'd best take care of that. There's a form on this page, even.

There is one more matter to discuss, however. It is customary at SL shows to give tips to performers, much like in meatspace clubs. I bring this up because I’m a capitalist, albeit a rather crappy one. I do like to make music for its own sake, but getting paid helps me do it more often and with greater resources (like my recently repaired and re-sweetened guitar). For those outside of SL, a tip is fairly easy to deliver via PayPal to matthew@thematthewshow.com.

All right, there it is. Let’s try this thing, and see if we can’t get some kinda 21st-century music scene happening. Carpe something or other.

matthew on Beatchicks - December 22, 2008

http://beatchicks.com/?p=53
I had a good time chatting with and playing tunes for Hope & The Diva, and they never once called me on my bullshit. Enjoy.

Facebookery - November 30, 2008

Okay, so although I've been rocking the MySpace, Second Life, Twitter and other such hubs of the techpocalypse, I have rather glaringly left Facebook a bit fallow.

Part of this is because it's just not terribly music-friendly. No tracks can be uploaded without a scan of my driver's license (SERIOUSLY), and I mean, damn.

But there are sufficient quantities of friends & acquaintances who've expressed surprise that I've been keeping myself to myself on the big FB, and today I say to you, alright already:

http://tinyurl.com/5ed2y4
As alluded to above, there ain't much in the way of tuneage there, but it's as good a place as any to keep abreast of my goings-on, as I'll be updating it with the same frequency as my other online outposts.

Lady Chatterlaine's back - November 17, 2008

Back in my NYC days, I attempted a couple of collaborations with Paul Shapera Gwynne-Craig, better known as Mocha Lab, when he was in Harlem and I was in Brooklyn. He'd throw stuff my way and see what I could make of it, and one of those times, something rather interesting emerged.

It was a little ditty involving confused gender endings and high school reunions entitled Lady Chatterlaine, and was meant to go on the next Mocha Lab album. Alas, his computer committed suicide later that year (2003, I think), and all we had left for posterity was the crappy demo.

However, we were recently moved to re-create the old broad, and the result is available for your perusal here:

http://tinyurl.com/5d8g3u
While you're at it, feel free to saunter over to mochalab.com, he's got lots of other goodies for your earholes.

some virtual ink - November 8, 2008

NeverEndingWonder posted a february write-up:

http://tinyurl.com/6ep2g4
"Combining recordings of five individuals musing on their lives with songs, the matthew show creates a theme album with an ambitious premise and pulls it off with great insight, humor and poignancy."

I thanky kindly.

Those of you who have bought the disc and/or download, do consider taking time to post a review on the merchant's page. It helps people who don't know who the hell I am to figure out whether I'm worth their time.

More soon,

matthew

matthew on SLCN - October 20, 2008

Last night I had the enormously badass opportunity to perform and interview on Tonight Live with Paisley Beebe, one of the Second Life Cable Network's most popular shows. If you missed it, the video is here:

Thanks to all who patiently waited 5 years for me to get this project done. The early response has been overwhelmingly positive, and hits are way up on the streaming page, which incidentally is here: http://februarythealbum.com/
I’ll keep you posted as postables arise…

the matthew show LIVE at the Hip Pocket Theatre 10/11/08, plus impending CD release - October 6, 2008

So I open my mailbox this Saturday, and what do I find but a bigass box from Wampus Multimedia. I then did three things:

First, I squealed like a little girl.

Then I apologized to the neighbors, who I had alarmed significantly.

Finally, I checked with Mark at Wampus about how nigh the release date was. This, of course, is somewhat dependent upon when CD Baby and iTunes get the thing loaded up proper in their catalogues, but it’s looking increasingly like early next week when February will be available to all.

However, it so happens that I’m playing a show at Hip Pocket Theatre this Saturday the 11th. And since I have the dang ol’ discs in hand, I may as well put ‘em up for sale at the gig. Those having an interest in obtaining the album before the rest of the world, c’mon out to Fort Worth and getcher bragging rights. It’s entirely possible that you can meet the star of the album cover, the inimitable Preston Faggart, as he is a resident of these parts and is known to hang at the Hip. And as mentioned previously, you can check the record out online before you buy:

http://februarythealbum.com/
A small caveat: Our friends at Channel 5 seem to suggest that there could be rain on the 11th, which would really suck. In the event of getting rained out again (thanks, Ike, for last time, you bastard), I’m going to ask around and see if there may be a backup venue (hint, hint: FW types, lemme know what you know, even if it’s a living room & a cooler of beer). I gotta release this thing, it’s just sitting there in that box staring at me with its hangdog expression. Oh wait, that’s just Preston.

But supposing that the weather forecasters are wrong (and they often are), the details are as follows: Playing with the trio (being the notorious Jason Jackson & Jeff Simms), I’ll start up at 6PM. The play, The Last Lake Rat, by our old pal Johnny Simons, cranks up at 8:15. After the play, we hop back onstage and keep going till someone unplugs us, come hell or Rapture. Those left behind, don’t worry, nobody in this band is going anywhere.

Venue details here:

http://www.hippocket.org/
So there we go. Release party ahoy, and availability coming soon to fans throughout the interwebtubes. It’s morning in America. And possibly Easter Island.

More soon.

UPDATE 10-11-08: No rain, c'mon out.

the matthew show LIVE at Burning Life, Sunday 10/5 - October 1, 2008

I'll be doing a special performance at Burning Life this Sunday. It's the Second Life version of Burning Man, and this is my second year on the roster. It's always a great time, and there's plenty to explore:

new album streaming page - October 1, 2008

Bammo:

http://februarythealbum.com/
Up until now, you've only been able to hear individual tracks, but on this album, the songs are only part of a much larger package.

When I began this album in 2005, I wanted to create something truly new. Inspired by documentary photographers like Walker Evans & Bill Brandt, as well as musicians with documentary tendencies such as my friend Paul of Mocha Lab, I set about creating an album of what I like to call docu-pop. February is the result.

I sat down with five friends, all of whom were in the place of reflection that comes with leaving your twenties behind, without quite knowing what to do with the unrealized dreams that accompanied them. The resulting dissonance was the subject of our conversations, which I recorded at length and pored through extensively in the following months. In doing so, I found wisdom, humor, insight, and often very surprising realizations. We tackled the nature of hope, disappointment, and ugly truth, all in the spirit of adapting George Orwell's "power of facing unpleasant facts" for the new millennium.

The same sorts of thoughts were shaping my songwriting at the time, and as I began recording the new songs, I matched them with pieces of the aforementioned conversations. What emerged was a case study of five people, each at critical points in their lives, asking the old question: Is that all there is? Accompanied by songs exploring the same territory, the album is as much a documentary as it is a collection of pop songs.

I say all this so that even those of you who consume music song-by-song may give the streaming page a try first. Hopefully it will give you an impression of what the album is. Given the changing nature of the music industry back into the singles market it started as, it may be the first and last album of its kind.

the matthew show LIVE at Opening Bell Coffee, Thursday September 25th - September 14, 2008

Doing a show on the south side of Dallas at Opening Bell Coffee. Bob Simpson, a fine performer from way off in San Angelo, will be opening at 8:00, followed by the honky popper hisself. Check out Bob's stuff, it's quite nice:

suggestions welcome - August 7, 2008

So the disc is being pressed as we speak, and we & our good friends at Wampus are getting geared up to shoot the things out in every direction once we get 'em in our hands.

But before we do, I'd like to ask you fine folks if you have any recommendations. What's your favorite podcast/college radio station/local rag/indie magazine, etc? Lemme know and I'll make sure they're on the list.

Thanks in advance for your assistance. More when I know it...

Hip Pocket, 8/2/08 - July 24, 2008

Got a last-minute booking at Fort Worth's venerable Hip Pocket Theatre, for those of you looking for a Saturday night diversion in the woods. August 2nd, 7PM is go time, until the play, Dreams Do Not Care by Johnny Simons, graces the stage. After the play, the music will continue until someone pulls the plug on me or my compatriots, the erstwhile Jason Jackson and the newly famous Jeff Simms, fresh from his appearance on Channel 8 News as "this man" complaining about his electric bill:

matthew interviewed by Metaverse Messenger - July 5, 2008

One of Second Life's most widely-read publications decided to lower their standards and interview a certain person, who of course rambled on and on for hours and hours, so they had to post not only an edited version for their regular PDF edition...

Thanks to Phoenix Psaltery for taking an interest, and for infinite patience. The virtual ink is appreciated.

new album COMPLETE tracks online - July 3, 2008

Okay, so it may be that you went to the website after reading my recent post, clicked on the little doober, started listening, and then after a minute or so began channeling Fred Willard: "Wha happen?"

Yes, I put edited clips on there for a variety of technical reasons I shan't go into here. But by popular demand, great boisterous clamor even, I've stuck four tracks up in their entirety at what is in my opinion the best music site on the interwebs, Virb:

http://www.virb.com/thematthewshow
Right now the durn thing is done on my end and is on the way to Wampus for pressing and suchlike. I'll keep you posted on all postables as I find them postworthy.

May the Fourth be with you.

matthew returns to Second Life - July 3, 2008

A month later, and my throat has finally grown accustomed to the absence of its old rowdy friends, the tonsils. Therefore, starting on July 9th, I'll resume my Wednesday night residency at Luxor Stage, one of Second Life's premier live music destinations. It's always a good time, and everybody knows your name, because it's floating above your avatar's head.

Showtime is 6PM SLT (Pacific time). It'll be great to see everyone again. Those in the know can bring your squid hats, and those out of the know can wonder what the hell is going on.

New Album Samples For Your Convenience - June 30, 2008

As you well know, everyone hates a liar. And for the past several months (years?) I’ve been promising to have tracks from the new album up for your listening pleasure, and then I conveniently change the subject when they don’t appear. Such behavior could easily be construed as lying, and for that I apologize. What I actually suffer from is a condition I invented just now called Circumstantial Frazzlement Disorder. Victims of this dread disease have their life’s circumstances swing in wildly disparate directions at unpredictable times, thus rendering any promises they may have made rather unreliable. Maybe if I say this often enough, I’ll start getting a check from the government.

BUT! You’ll be happy to know that the disease is not fatal, and merely results in a delay of the kept promise rather than its demise. Thus it is that if you visit, right this very moment, the Music link to the right of this message, you will notice the appearance of four—FOUR—brand new samples of tracks from the forthcoming album by the matthew show, picked with great care and without the use of child labor, apart from my son’s disapproving nods when I got a mix wrong.

So you see, I have actually been doing something all this time. And not just eating Ben & Jerry’s and playing with the kid’s rather large collection of tractors. So if you’re curious about the new stuff, go get a taste now, and in a couple of months, you’ll know what you’re getting. And if you’re a hipster, you can complain that it’s all right, but the early lo-fi stuff was better.

Okay, I’m done here. New Second Life shows to announce very soon, stay tuned...

the matthew show signs with Wampus - June 12, 2008

Press release time…

It is with a great sense of officialdom (and probably pomposity) that I send this missive today, announcing the identity of the record label who has been conned into picking up the matthew show’s second album for release. The new album, February, will be a co-release of my own Naïve Music label and Virginia’s own Wampus Multimedia:

http://www.wampus.com/
Longtime fans may recall that in 2005, Wampus released Hurry Home Early, a Warren Zevon tribute album featuring my version of Mohammed’s Radio, along with other covers by many fine artists including Zevon’s son Jordan. Wampus owner Mark Doyon and I have kept in touch since then, and when I began to look for allies to assist with the promotion of the new record, he was on the short list. Him & Puff Daddy. (P, if you’re reading this, call me…)

Wampus is no spring chicken, which is a plus in my book. They’ve been releasing oddball records for two decades, from the brick-n-mortar era to the new digital hotness, and have kept themselves innovative, branching into e-publishing, internet marketing, and digital music distribution. They’ve remained staunchly independent, and if they’re releasing my ravings, they’re likely to remain so.

By joining the Wampus roster, the matthew show becomes part of an impressive musical family. Johnny J. Blair has fans as diverse as surf-rocker Dick Dale and frikkin’ Brian frikkin’ Wilson. Kowtow Popof is a longtime purveyor of what the Washington Post calls “preternaturally surrealist post pop.” The May Bees have great press out the wazoo, and have opened for bigass underground acts like Frank Black and Bettie Serveert. Add stalwart indies like tvfordogs, Cafebar 401, Casey Abrams, The Crowd Scene, and Alice Despard, and you have a label who puts quality before implants, so to speak. Not to say that none of us are attractive, it’s just...hey. My eyes are up here.

Wampus is announcing the signing tomorrow morning, so stay tuned to MTV to hear Kurt Loder tell you all about it. They’re gonna pre-empt Midgets Gone Wild for the press conference, seriously.

If I’ve left any doubt in your mind, this is a very happy day for me. For years I’ve longed to team up with a label who actually gives a shit about music, and to have it actually happen is a serious blow to my misanthropy. I might stop hating people for a whole week, even. Plus I have a couch to crash on the next time I roadtrip through the Blue Ridge mountains. Thanks, Mark. Now get back to work.

As for you fine people, I’ll be keeping you posted as the release date draws nearer. At present it’s looking like September, which is appropriate, since that’s when I released texas five years ago. Seems to be a better month for me than the one referenced in my new disc title.

Remember, dreams can come true. Though hopefully not some of the ones I had when I was on hydrocodone last week…

More soon,

matthew

New Hip Pocket Season Shows - June 8, 2008

In a fit of optimism now that my surgery's over and done with, I've booked a couple of shows out at Fort Worth's venerable Hip Pocket Theatre. Check the Calendar page for specifics, should be a hootenanny as always.